TL;DR
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH) gained over 60% in seven days, reaching $531 on November 1, 2017
- CME Group’s announcement of bitcoin futures contracts sent shockwaves through the entire crypto market
- EOS recorded a staggering 105% weekly surge, while Bitcoin itself hit a new all-time high above $6,600
- The altcoin market capitalization expanded significantly as institutional interest signals multiplied
- Not all altcoins participated in the rally — Cardano (ADA) dropped 21% and NEM (XEM) fell 18%
The first day of November 2017 will be remembered as one of the most electric moments in cryptocurrency history. What started as a ripple from a single announcement on October 31 — CME Group’s declaration that it planned to launch bitcoin futures contracts before year’s end — turned into a tsunami that lifted some altcoins to extraordinary heights while leaving others behind.
CME Futures: The Catalyst That Changed Everything
CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives marketplace, dropped a bombshell on Tuesday, October 31, 2017. Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy announced the exchange would introduce cash-settled bitcoin futures contracts in the fourth quarter, pending regulatory approval. The futures would be based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR), a daily settlement price launched in November 2016 in partnership with London-based Crypto Facilities.
“We’ve been working with the regulator. They understand our application. And they understand our model very, very well,” Duffy told CNBC, signaling that the regulatory path was clearing for what would be a watershed moment for crypto legitimacy.
The implications were immediate and profound. Institutional investors who had been sitting on the sidelines now had a regulated, familiar instrument to gain exposure to bitcoin. And as bitcoin surged, capital spilled over into the broader altcoin market.
Bitcoin Cash Leads the Altcoin Charge
While Bitcoin grabbed headlines by smashing through $6,500 and $6,600 to hit a record $6,600.84 on November 1, the real story in the altcoin space was Bitcoin Cash. BCH posted a remarkable 60.15% gain over the previous seven days, trading at $531.83 with a market capitalization approaching $8.9 billion.
The surge placed Bitcoin Cash firmly as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, trailing only Bitcoin ($112.7 billion) and Ethereum ($27.8 billion). The 24-hour trading volume for BCH exceeded $1.15 billion — a staggering figure that underscored the intensity of market interest.
The Bitcoin Cash rally was driven by multiple converging factors: the general euphoria from CME’s announcement, growing narrative around on-chain scaling solutions, and increasing hash rate as miners rotated between BTC and BCH based on profitability.
EOS: The Week’s Biggest Gainer
Perhaps the most dramatic move belonged to EOS. The token, which was in the midst of what would become one of the largest ICOs in history, surged 105.53% over seven days and 35.98% in just 24 hours. Trading at $1.05 on November 1, EOS was capturing the imagination of investors who believed in block.one’s vision of a high-performance blockchain platform for decentralized applications.
The EOS 24-hour trading volume reached nearly $75 million — extraordinary for a project still in its token sale phase. The weekly gain of over 100% made it the standout performer in the top 20 cryptocurrencies.
Not All Altcoins Joined the Party
The rally was remarkably uneven across the altcoin spectrum. While BCH and EOS soared, several major altcoins experienced significant declines:
Cardano (ADA) plunged 21.56% in 24 hours to $0.023, despite being a newly listed project with strong community backing. NEM (XEM) dropped 10.74% to $0.167, and IOTA fell 6.58% to $0.364. OmiseGO (OMG) shed 12.72%, and Stellar (XLM) declined 6.97%.
The divergence suggested that capital was rotating aggressively — flowing out of some speculative positions and into others perceived as having stronger near-term catalysts. The market was beginning to discriminate between projects rather than rising uniformly.
Ethereum Holds Steady Amid the Chaos
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, traded at $291.69 on November 1 — essentially flat with a modest 2.15% weekly decline and a 4.68% drop over 24 hours. Despite being the platform of choice for the ICO boom that was fueling much of the market excitement, ETH appeared to be in a consolidation phase, with $553 million in 24-hour volume.
The relative stability of ETH during such a volatile period for other altcoins reflected its maturing role as both a utility token and a store of value within the broader crypto ecosystem.
Why This Matters
The events of November 1, 2017, marked a turning point in how the cryptocurrency market responded to institutional signals. The CME futures announcement didn’t just boost Bitcoin — it created a risk-on environment that sent select altcoins soaring while exposing which projects had genuine momentum versus speculative froth.
Bitcoin Cash’s 60% weekly surge and EOS’s 105% explosion demonstrated that capital was flowing aggressively into projects perceived as having strong narratives. Meanwhile, the sharp declines in Cardano, NEM, and others showed that the market was becoming more discerning — a sign of maturation in what many mainstream commentators still dismissed as a bubble.
The stage was being set for an extraordinary final two months of 2017, during which Bitcoin would approach $20,000 and the total cryptocurrency market cap would explode. But on this particular day, the altcoin market was writing its own chapter in the crypto history books.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments are highly volatile and speculative. Always do your own research before investing.